Facebook brand page managers, your job just got a bit harder!

Facebook has rolled out the ”People Are Talking About This” metric across all brand pages – though not all users are seeing it yet. If this is the first time you have heard about this metric, here’s the scoop — it essentially tells the world how many unique people have engaged with your page in the last 7 days.

Mark Zuckerberg mentioned a few times during his f8 presentation that he wanted Facebook to be the type of place where people could digitally experience ‘emotional connections’. Zuck just raised the stakes for brands on Facebook. It’s no longer a numbers game. A big ’like’ number doesn’t really matter if your “people talking about” number is not as significant. Do the people who say they like you really mean that if they can’t be bothered to engage with you regularly?

So what is a Facebook brand page manager to do?

If you’re not pleased with your brand page’s “People Are Talking About This” number, do two things immediately:

Firstly, set aside some time to review the new set of insights Facebook rolled out along with the metric. What kind of content got people talking? Furthermore, Facebook now also gives content a ”viral” score. Continue to do things that have a significant viral score.

Secondly, invest more time talking to your community. Get to know them and ask what they’d like to see more of on your brand’s Facebook page. For some brands, Facebook (sadly) has become just another broadcast medium.

Brands in the same industry are naturally competitive with one another. From a consumer’s point of view this very public metric is a good thing. Because there’s essentially a score attached to engagement, it will force brands to invest in creating quality experiences, offers and fantastic content.